TY - JOUR

T1 - Forensic drug screening by liquid chromatography hyphenated with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS)

AU - Heinsvig, Pia Johansson

AU - Noble, Carolina

AU - Dalsgaard, Petur Weihe

AU - Mardal, Marie

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank Juliet Wawira Kinyua for valuable input. PJH acknowledges Antidoping Denmark; MM acknowledges the Research Council of Norway (# 312267 ).

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) has been widely used for screening small organic molecules in complex samples. Its selectivity and sensitivity allow for broad-scope screening of thousands of analytes. However, the complexity of the acquired data has complicated its implementation in high-throughput laboratories that analyze hundreds of samples per week and require that multiple users be able to analyze the data. Forensic laboratories have managed to harvest the merits of LC-HRMS technology using robust and often leveled data analysis(/acquisition) workflows, without spending a disproportionate amount of time evaluating inconclusive or false positive identifications. This critical review describes the full analytical process of LC-HRMS-based forensic drug screening, from sample preparation to data analysis and beyond. Interesting solutions are highlighted, and two emerging trends will be discussed: i) the use of free online tools to improve forensic drug screening, and ii) re-use of data to improve forensic services.

AB - Liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) has been widely used for screening small organic molecules in complex samples. Its selectivity and sensitivity allow for broad-scope screening of thousands of analytes. However, the complexity of the acquired data has complicated its implementation in high-throughput laboratories that analyze hundreds of samples per week and require that multiple users be able to analyze the data. Forensic laboratories have managed to harvest the merits of LC-HRMS technology using robust and often leveled data analysis(/acquisition) workflows, without spending a disproportionate amount of time evaluating inconclusive or false positive identifications. This critical review describes the full analytical process of LC-HRMS-based forensic drug screening, from sample preparation to data analysis and beyond. Interesting solutions are highlighted, and two emerging trends will be discussed: i) the use of free online tools to improve forensic drug screening, and ii) re-use of data to improve forensic services.

KW - Broad-scope screening

KW - Drug screening

KW - Forensic toxicology

KW - LC-HRMS

KW - New psychoactive substances

KW - Retrospective data analysis

KW - Wide-scope screening

U2 - 10.1016/j.trac.2023.117023

DO - 10.1016/j.trac.2023.117023

M3 - Review

AN - SCOPUS:85150463353

VL - 162

JO - Trends in Analytical Chemistry

JF - Trends in Analytical Chemistry

SN - 0165-9936

M1 - 117023

ER -